by C. G. Cooper
At least he still had his map and compass in his pocket. For some reason, that thought made him push harder. He knew where he was going. Now all he had to do was get there. Cal strained his way up the mountain, thinking of Neil as he went.
+++
The buyers had just arrived at Ponder’s compound below the peak of Battleship Mountain. They were escorted in by a cadre of Ponder’s most loyal soldiers. He waited impatiently behind his desk, sipping from a large glass of Jack Daniels. He already had a few lines of coke earlier to keep his energy levels up. It had been a long couple of days. Ponder hoped the wait would soon be over.
The head buyer was shown into Ponder’s office. He was a man of average height and build. Ponder knew the man was from somewhere in the Middle East as evidenced by his complexion and facial features. He hated dealing with Arabs or Muslims or whatever they called themselves. They were all beggars or thieves in his opinion, but in this case they were his meal ticket.
Nick Ponder extracted himself from his chair and moved to greet the emissary. “Welcome to Wyoming!”
The smaller man bowed slightly and smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Ponder. My name is Benjamin,” he said with a slight British accent.
Ponder knew it couldn’t possibly be the man’s real name, but he didn’t care. The two men shook hands and took a seat on opposite sides of the desk. Ponder waived for his guards to leave the room. He waited until the door was closed before speaking.
“Did you bring the money?” Ponder asked, trying not to sound too anxious.
Benjamin raised a black case and set it on the desk. “Cash denominations in Dollars and Euros, along with gold and diamonds, as per your instructions. The balance of the purchase price will be deposited into your overseas accounts once we have confirmed delivery with my superiors.”
Ponder nodded and inspected the contents of the briefcase. It was only a small fraction of his fee, but still tantalizing. He fought the urge to drool as he fingered the small bag of diamonds.
“When may we see Mr. Patel?” asked Benjamin.
Ponder looked up from his small horde. “I thought we’d have a little lunch and then head down to see your new pet.”
Benjamin smiled amiably. “That is much appreciated, Mr. Ponder, but would it be possible to get our lunch while we administer another test on Mr. Patel?”
Ponder gritted his teeth. “I thought we already got past all this.”
Benjamin waived a hand in apology. “It’s actually not a test to verify the purchase, Mr. Ponder.”
“Then what the hell is it for?” Ponder growled impatiently.
“My superiors merely want to initiate a certain operation prior to our departure. Please be assured that as soon as I see Mr. Patel, your money will be wired to your account.”
The comment seemed to calm Ponder. The man known as Benjamin knew the next hour would be the most delicate of his operation. It was important to keep Ponder happy. His superiors had sent Benjamin not only because he was one of his country’s deadliest assassins, but because he had the rare duel talents of diplomacy and patience. Benjamin felt just as at home with the Prince of Wales as he did with a common street beggar. Upon laying eyes on Nick Ponder, he knew the man would be easily manipulated by greed.
Benjamin smiled again. “Shall we meet with Mr. Patel?”
+++
Neil was lying down on his cot trying to rest. He’d heard the commotion almost an hour before. His time had come. Neil was scared. Never before had he felt so alone. That wasn’t completely true. After the death of his mother and father at the hands of Pakistani terrorists, Neil went into a drug-induced nosedive. It was only through the intervention of Cal and his dad that he had come to terms with the murder of his parents. Neil could still hear Cal Sr.’s words: “I can’t tell you that the pain will ever go away, Neil. What I can tell you is that you’ll learn to deal with it and get to living again.” The man had been a second father to the young college student.
The doorway at the top of the staircase opened with a loud groan. Neil sat up and waited for the footsteps to come down the concrete stairs. Nick Ponder was the first to come to his cell door.
“I’ve got a visitor for you, Neil,” Ponder said with a wicked grin.
A tiny light of hope flared within Neil. Could it be his friends?
A man stepped in front of Ponder and peered into the room. “Hello, Mr. Patel.”
Neil’s eyes went wide with terror. He knew this man. It felt like all the oxygen was sucked out of the room and replaced with unbearable cold. Benjamin smiled evilly and nodded. He turned back to Ponder. “I am satisfied, Mr. Ponder. Let us finalize our transaction in your office.”
Ignoring Neil, they both headed back up the stairs. Neil stayed in his cell. The shock of seeing the man he thought to be dead shook Neil to his core. All hope was lost.
Chapter 34
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
9:05pm, September 28th
It was getting harder and harder for Cal to put one foot in front of the other. What I wouldn’t give for some food right now. He’d been dehydrated before and recognized the signs that his body was giving. He needed water soon, but stopping wasn’t an option. Occasionally he would scoop up a handful of snow, stick it in his mouth and suck on it. Contrary to what most people think, eating snow can actually dehydrate you. Cal knew the only way to get water out of snow was to melt it. He didn’t have time for that. It was already way past the time he should have met up with the rest of the team.
Cal reached down for another scoop of snow and took a bite.
“Didn’t your platoon sergeant tell you never to eat yellow snow, Boss?”
Cal whirled around at the sound of the voice. A red flashlight flicked on. Rising up from the snow and darkness was Gaucho. Cal exhaled in relief.
“Please tell me Daniel and Lance made it too.”
Gaucho’s smile faded. “Snake Eyes is here, but Lance is gone.”
“What happened?” Cal asked.
Gaucho didn’t have a chance to explain. Daniel walked up and put a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you, Cal. What the hell possessed you to jump into the canyon?”
Cal looked at his friend in confusion. “How did you know…?” His tired mind struggled to put the pieces together. “You distracted the bear.”
“I was about to shoot the damn thing when you jumped. I thought you were dead. We were giving you until 2200 and then heading out.”
“What can I say? I guess some of your good luck must be rubbing off on me,” Cal smiled. “Wait. What happened to the bear?”
Gaucho stepped closer and answered for Daniel. “Wouldn’t you know it, this crazy Gringo shot that fucker at point blank range. One shot one kill, right, Snake Eyes?”
Daniel shrugged at the compliment. “It was dead before it hit the ground…the ground that I was lying on. The grizzly’s momentum almost got me. I just barely got out of the way as it came crashing down.”
Cal shook his head in amazement. Was there anything the Marine sniper couldn’t do?
“What happened to Lance?”
“He died saving me,” Daniel answered solemnly.
“How?”
“Trapper was about to shoot me when Lance came running in and distracted him. The poor guy didn’t stand a chance and he knew it. Trapper shot point blank. He died in my arms.”
Cal recognized the grief in Daniel’s voice. It pained him to see the sniper lose yet another of his men.
“And Trapper?”
“I took care of him.”
Cal nodded.
“Please tell me one of you has some water,” Cal almost pleaded.
Daniel pulled a Nalgene bottle out of his coat and handed it to him. Cal had to remind himself not to drink too fast, but his overwhelming thirst won out. He downed the entire bottle in seconds.
“Where are the rest of the guys?” Cal asked once he was partially satiated.
Gaucho pointed up
the hill.
“Let’s go see about finishing this fucking hike,” Cal suggested.
The three men headed up the hill, each rejuvenated by the sight of the other.
+++
The rest of the team was overjoyed to have Cal back. After hearing the story of Cal’s suicidal jump from Daniel, no one had held much hope for his survival.
Under the cover of darkness, the SSI warriors prepped for their final journey around Battleship Mountain. They would stick together for the last leg of the movement.
Brian, MSgt Trent, Gaucho, Daniel and Cal huddled together over a map to finalize the plan.
“We’ll stay in a column until we get right here.” Cal pointed to the map. “At that point, we’ll split up and approach Ponder’s compound from here and here.”
The men nodded. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would maximize their chances of closing in unnoticed.
“Any questions?” Cal asked.
Trent raised his hand. “You get word from Travis?”
“Not yet. This weather is really messing with our comm gear. I can’t get a signal with either my cell phone or the satellite phone.”
“So we don’t even know if Neil’s still there,” stated Brian evenly. He was all about helping a friend, but his feeling of unease grew as they got closer to their objective.
“What can I say, Doc? It’s the last place we know Neil was. Daniel confirmed that with Lance earlier.”
Brian wasn’t convinced, but said nothing. Cal couldn’t ignore the look of doubt on his friend’s face.
“If you’ve got something to say, Doc, spit it out.”
There were so many things Brian wanted to say, but he didn’t want to dampen the men’s spirits. “Just ignore me, guys. Must be the cold messing with my Hispanic roots.”
“You got that right, hombre!” Gaucho laughed.
The atmosphere lightened. They made their way back to their gear to get ready to go.
Brian followed Cal. “Hey, Cal?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about that back there. I just can’t shake this…vibe I’m getting.”
Cal looked at his friend. “I know how you feel. This whole operation has been one big goat rope from the beginning. Trust me, if I had something better, we’d do it. But right now we need to push forward and find Neil.”
“I know.”
The two men stared at each other for a moment. Brian broke the silence. “Just avoid jumping off any more cliffs, Staff Sergeant. I’m a good corpsman, but not THAT good.”
They both laughed. “Don’t worry. I hope I never have to do that again.”
Cal patted his friend on the shoulder and moved off to put on the gear the team had managed to piece together for him. As he strapped on his new skis, Cal tried to ignore the nagging sense of dread that threatened to overtake his resolve. Neil and the rest of the men were counting on him.
+++
Travis stood in the cockpit looking over Cowboy’s shoulder. They’d been waiting for the storm to die down for hours.
“We’re gonna need to get a refill soon,” Cowboy offered conversationally.
“How long will that take?”
Cowboy consulted his navigation system. “I’d say no more than an hour and half. The ground crew is already expecting us.”
“You can land in this stuff?” Travis down to the roiling clouds.
“It’s all about trusting your instruments.”
Travis wasn’t so sure. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked to the troop hold to find Dunn. Dunn looked up from the conversation he was having with one of the team leaders.
“Cowboy says we need to get some fuel soon,” said Travis.
“We can’t avoid it?”
Travis shook his head. “I think we’re already on fumes.”
“How long will it take?”
“Cowboy says it’ll take no more than an hour and a half.”
Dunn looked down at his watch. “That means we probably won’t be over the target again until after midnight.”
Travis shrugged. “I don’t know what else we can do. Any word from home?”
“The weather’s still too bad to see anything. I’m sure that even if we had Neil to hack into the spy satellites, they wouldn’t be able to get us a clear picture.”
Travis did not like waiting. He hated to think what might happen if they couldn’t parachute in.
“Let’s play it by ear and keep our fingers crossed that the weather clears after we get some fuel. Who knows, we may get lucky.”
“I hope you’re right, Skipper, because I’d really like to get out of this aircraft.”
Chapter 35
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
11:26pm, September 28th
After some haggling, the final wire transfer was made to Ponder’s account.
“Now that you have your money, Mr. Ponder, would it be okay to use Neil in your server room?” Benjamin asked politely.
“Now that I have my money, you can do whatever you want with that little bastard.” Ponder downed the remnants of his drink and slammed the glass onto the table with glee. He could almost smell the money he’d just made. Nick Ponder was finally a wealthy man.
“You sure I can’t get you a drink, Benjamin?”
“My religion precludes me from drinking alcohol, Mr. Ponder, but thank you for the offer. Now, can you show me to the server room?”
+++
Twenty minutes later, Ponder left Neil with Benjamin and his men in the server room. Neil was sitting at the main computer terminal. Benjamin handed him a piece of paper with handwritten instructions. Neil read over the notes and looked up incredulously.
“Are you kidding me? I won’t do this.”
“Yes, you will, Mr. Patel.” Benjamin extracted a pistol from his trousers and rested the barrel against Neil’s cheek. “You now belong to my superiors. These are the first orders you will obey from your new masters.”
“I won’t do anything for you fucking terrorists!”
Benjamin smiled patiently and nodded to one of his men. The large henchman reached over, grabbed Neil’s ear with one hand and pulled out a knife with the other.
“You will do as instructed or my friend here will take your body apart piece by piece. We will only take the parts that won’t hinder you in your duties. I would have thought that after losing your foot, you would already understand the gravity of the situation, Mr. Patel.”
Neil looked up at the man with absolute hatred. This man had orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of his parents. SSI had later conducted a clandestine operation to find the terrorist cell and eliminate its members. It had supposedly been an overwhelming success. Benjamin was supposed to be dead.
“Ah! I see you are still angered and confused by my appearance.” Benjamin replaced his weapon and sat down next to Neil. “You thought I was dead, no?”
Neil nodded.
“As you can see,” Benjamin gestured to his body, “I am still alive.”
“How?” growled Neil.
Benjamin grinned. “My people are not as stupid or primitive as you believe, Mr. Patel. It is quite common for our leadership to employ doubles to ensure our safety. The man your people killed in retaliation for your parents’ death was a perfectly crafted duplicate. I have had to stay concealed until the perfect time. It just so happened that my revenge coincided with the wishes of my superiors. You see, Mr. Patel, you have grown as arrogant as your father.”
Neil seethed and tears came to his eyes. “You don’t know anything about my father, you murderer!”
“I know much more than you think. Now, shall we get back to your first assignment?”
Neil glared at the man he’d killed over and over again in his dreams.
+++
Thirty minutes later, Neil’s task was complete.
“Are you happy now?” Neil asked, dejectedly.
“Quite happy, Mr. Patel. The sooner you come to realize the wisdom of
complying with orders the first time, the easier your time will be.”
Benjamin motioned to his men. One of them picked up Neil and threw him over his shoulder.
As the blood rushed to his head, Neil masked his gloom by sending his mind to a happier place.
Chapter 36
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
12:08am, September 29th
Ponder watched as the foreigner prepped the three snowmobiles Ponder had given them. He’d wondered how they would transport the crippled Patel down the mountain, and had asked Benjamin about it.
“We came prepared, Mr. Ponder.”
Benjamin waived one of his troops over. The big man walked over with his oversized pack.
“Show Mr. Ponder how we’re taking Mr. Patel down the mountain.”
The man nodded and unloaded the contents of the backpack. It turned out that the team of buyers had a collapsible sled. Fully constructed, it looked like an elongated cocoon. The sled would be completely enclosed and could be towed behind one of the snowmobiles.
“Aren’t you worried about the kid puking inside that thing?” Ponder asked.
The ride down the mountain would be treacherous. Ponder couldn’t imagine making the journey inside the sled.
Benjamin smiled. “Mr. Patel will be given sleeping medication prior to our departure.”
Not ten minutes later, all of Benjamin’s men had their gear stowed on the idling snowmobiles. Ponder walked over to the cocooned sled as Neil was being laid in. He watched curiously as Benjamin administered the anesthetic from a small syringe.
Ponder stood over Neil as the drug took hold. “Have a nice trip, Neil.”
Neil looked up at his previous captor. A look of amusement crossed his face. “Watch your back, Ponder.”